The next day, we leave the Wilson household. I will admit, Sarah seems like a good woman, one I think someday I could call a friend. Her kids also became quite attached to Mira and enjoyed playing with her despite their difference in age. It's also nice seeing Bucky around all the kids. Sarah's kids seemed to get a kick out of him lifting them up with his arm and even tossing them into the air a little.
When we get back to Bucky's apartment, it feels like returning home. The familiar scent of him lingers in the air, but the place has become cluttered with books, stacked high against the wall in uneven piles.
"Couldn't say no," I taunt as he sets down his bag and Mira's. She releases my hand and runs off to continue reading a book sitting on the coffee table.
"I have to go turn myself in quickly. I'll be back," he says, already turning on his heels toward the door.
"Freeze. What do you mean?" I shout.
"I told you I didn't get clearance to leave and missed my therapy, so there's a warrant for me. It's fine, I get arrested, then cleared by my therapist after an annoyingly long session," he huffs before leaving.
Fucker has been gone for days, and we even took our time coming back here while he has a whole-ass warrant out for him.
I plop myself down on the couch beside Mira, catching sight of the book she's reading. Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals.
Not going to lie, it takes me a minute just to read the title."What are you reading?" I ask.
"A book," she answers like a smartass.
"What's it about?"
"Quantum mechanics."
Like I couldn't figure that out from the title. "You understand it?"
"Most of it. Some is a little hard, but I have other books to explain the bits I don't know," she replies, her gaze still fixed on the page.
I slide the book out of her fingers."HEY!" she shouts.
I earmark the page and set it aside. "We have to talk," I say with a sigh, shifting to face her.
She leans back into the couch, looking up at me, inflating her cheeks with a sullen expression.
"Do you remember anything about how you got to Madripoor?" I ask.
"No. I told you. I heard you and Dad, and I wanted to be with you, and then I was." she explains, kicking her little legs in the air where they hang off the couch.
"Did you feel anything?"
She pauses, thinking. "Sad. Then hot. Then I was there." She smiles at me.
Taking a long shot, I ask the question that has been weighing on my mind."Do you know what the Infinity Stones are?"
She nods. "They make up the universe."
"They did. Not anymore," I sigh, already knowing her answers won't get me anywhere. She knows about as much about herself as I do. I reluctantly grab her book and pass it back.
She takes it and says, "No, they still do."
My head swivels back toward her as she flips the book open again.
"What do you mean? They were destroyed."
"Yeah, but power that makes up a universe can't really be destroyed. It just has to go somewhere else until you put the container that held them back together," she explains calmly, as if this is common knowledge.
"Explain," I say quietly.
She continues reading. "It just makes sense. You can't destroy something that strong."
My mind flashes back to the journal and that odd entry where I speak words I don't remember:A child born of them shall act as a vessel of all their power.
I hesitate before asking the question rattling in my head."Where do you think the power would go, then, until they have a container again?"
"Mmm," she hums, thinking. "Probably into another container that can at least hold them for a bit."
With that, she returns to her reading, leaving me speechless.
My mind rattles through hundreds of thoughts and scenarios. Before I realize it, the room has grown dark. The sun set, and Mira flicks on the overhead light to continue reading.
A key jingles in the door, the lock clicking as Bucky strolls in.
Frustration and exhaustion are painted across his face, and I can imagine why. But for once in a long time, I have someone I can share these thoughts with. It's not just me anymore, drowning in them. I have a voice now and he knows the truth.
Before he even removes his jacket, I'm up and pulling him toward the bedroom, shouting for Mira to stay in the living room. She's unfazed and keeps reading. I shove Bucky inside and shut the door behind us.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
I'm sure I look insane. I feel like my eyes might bulge out of my head with how wide they are.
"Mira told me she doesn't think the Stones can be destroyed, just the containers that held their power. The power isn't gone, just moved somewhere else temporarily," I ramble, pacing the room as Bucky sits on the edge of the bed watching me.
"Now think back to the words I said when I was pregnant with her, and then what Sam said about Wanda's powers not being affected by the Stones being destroyed," I continue.
"I… where are you going with this?" he stammers.
"Bucky, she said they would go somewhere temporarily," I say, gesturing wildly, waiting for the lights to turn on.
"Not following."
"Bucky! What if she is the temporary container?"
I hear it then, the click. The light in his eyes as realization dawns.
"No. You said she never came into contact with any of the Stones. You only had exposure to the Tesseract, and not even when you were pregnant with her." A valid argument, but I think the all-powerful Stones of the universe would still find a way.
"But what about what I said? I have no memory of that. You yourself said it didn't make sense and probably wasn't me. What if it was the Stones, or something like it?"
He squints at me, the wheels turning.
I finally plop down beside him, my breathing erratic at best. We sit in silence. A few times we try to speak, but the words fall away. Neither of us knows where to go from here, or even how to test a theory like this.
Shit. What does one do with a haywire theory like this?